Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland smiles during a news conference at the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship on Wednesday. / Alan Diaz, AP

by Steve DiMeglio, USA TODAY Sports

by Steve DiMeglio, USA TODAY Sports

DORAL, Fla. - Refusing to shadow box or quickly kick aside any question not to his liking, Rory McIlroy was open, direct and honest Wednesday morning in a news conference at Trump Doral Resort five days after his alarming withdrawal halfway through the Honda Classic.

Citing an avalanche of issues that thumped him all at once - placing excessive pressure on himself following a stalwart 2012, battling a swing flaw and failing to see quality results from his hard work - the world's No. 1-ranked golfer said it was a mistake to walk off even with wisdom tooth pain. As for further abrupt WDs, he said those are definitely not in his future.

"I was just all over the place, I saw red, it was a mistake and everyone makes mistakes and I'm learning from them," McIlroy said ahead of Thursday's start of the WGC-Cadillac Championship. "Some people have the pleasure of making mistakes in private. Most of my mistakes are in the public eye. I regret what I did. But it's over now and it won't happen again."

McIlroy has bounced back from adversity before. After his meltdown on the back nine in the final round of the 2011 Masters, he waltzed to an eight-stroke victory in the U.S. Open two months later. Last year, after a midsummer slump, he won four tournaments and both the PGA Tour and European Tour money titles. One of the lessons he took away from this latest incident, one he has frequently thought about, is the need for an attitude adjustment when his game is astray.

"I learned that when the tough gets going, I've got to stick in there a bit more and I've got to grind it out," he said. "There's no excuse for quitting and it doesn't set a good example for the kids watching me. It wasn't good for a whole lot of reasons, for the tournaments, the people coming out watching me.

"I feel like I let a lot of people down with what I did last week."

McIlroy, 23, said one of his worst moments on a golf course wasn't without benefit.

"I actually think in the long run, Friday will be a blessing in disguise," he said. "It was like it just sort of released a valve and all that sort of pressure that I've been putting on myself just went away. And I was like, 'Just go out and have fun. It's not life or death out there. It's only a game.' I had sort of forgotten that this year."

After winning five times last year, including his second major championship, and signing a mega-bucks deal to change to Nike equipment, his 2013 had been forgettable. He missed the cut in Abu Dhabi, lost in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, and then quit when he was 7-over par through 26 holes in the Honda Classic.

The origin of most of his troubles is not friction between him and his girlfriend, tennis star Caroline Wozniacki, McIlroy said, suggesting rumors of their breakup are laughable.

Wozniacki, who is in Indian Wells, Calif., for the BNP Paribas Open, praised McIlroy's response to the controversy.

"He was honest and up front," she said of his news conference. "I think he put a lid on things."

The root of the troubles, McIlroy says, stem from a swing flaw where he is taking the club back too far outside the swing path and, as a result, he hasn't been able to let his hands catch up on the downswing to fix the problem. He has worked extensively near his new Florida home on his swing with swing coach Michael Bannon.

"This year, we knew it was a little bit of a problem, and we were trying to find the balance between making a bit of a swing change and finding some playability in it so that I can actually go out there and play and not think about it," McIlroy said. "But we realized there are no quick fixes in golf. â?¦ I know if I can get my takeaway fixed, the rest of the swing will follow. The takeaway has always been the biggest key for my golf swing, and I need to get back to that. I've worked my ass off over the last four or five days to really try and get this right. Still, it's a work-in-progress.

" â?¦ The equipment is fantastic. I have no problems at all. When I make a good swing, the ball goes where I want it and the flight I want it, so I know that it's not that. It's just getting my swing on the right path."